Maegan: Through my research, Iceland looked so unfamiliar and the landscape so visually diverse, I was instantly captivated and knew I had to get there. My partner and I travelled around the whole of Iceland for two weeks in winter, where we slept in a Jeep Wrangler and lived off baked beans, tuna and hot chocolate. Most of our adventures usually involve us being uncomfortable or in sub 0 degrees Celsius, so roughing it for two weeks in the middle of an Icelandic winter seemed completely normal. It was the best way to experience Iceland as the freedom allowed us to be more spontaneous and flexible with how and where we spent our time.

Iceland is a really incredible place, it’s extremely beautiful yet dangerously powerful, defined by its dramatic landscape with massive glaciers, volcanoes, geysers and geothermal hot springs. The sheer size of the mountains and volcanic landscape made me feel small, which I absolutely loved, because it provided me with a fresh perspective of how big the world is and how tiny our individual lives are. I think it’s so easy to get caught up on the small things in life, and it’s very easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of content we’re consuming every single day… sometimes you just need to get away somewhere remote, away from all the noise and just hit reset. We could all do with a gentle reminder to broaden our minds and not sweat the small stuff – it’s incredibly refreshing and liberating! Being amongst the Icelandic landscape and sleeping in a 4WD, I really experienced the true force of nature (the strong chilling winds, snow etc) and it heightened my senses. It made me feel completely alive and vulnerable – I felt alert, free, terrified, anxious, liberated and calm. You realise that nature is much more powerful than mankind.

Melanie: Wilderness and lonesome nature endow you with a distinctive peace of mind as it shows us that we are not as omnipotent as society is suggesting us. This omnipotent conceitedness is delusive and misleading and main source of all the different faces stress is inflicting on us. If we aren’t as mighty as it erroneously seems, we can trust fate, fortune or the true force of nature and our veritable inner voice. So, then we can relax as obviously it isn’t up to us to decide everything in every single situation. Sure, planing and organizing and in the end deciding is an important part of our practical life. But our society is definitely exaggerating in this direction and people have forgot to let things evolve, to let time unfold the direction we should follow.

Nature is the most impressive reminder to keep in mind, that deciding is nothing we can manage exclusively with our intellect. It isn’t wise to push forward and react immediately to every single stimulus. Sometimes it is far better to take your time and wait. Wilderness forces us to accept to hold on, as we have to consider simple facts as darkness, freezing, guidance and solitude. While looking at Maegan’s breathtaking pictures it crosses through my mind, that art obviously has the same power as nature to remind us of pausing and contemplating.

Maegan is an artist located in Melbourne. More about her otherworldly and magic work of untouched and deserted landscapes here. Her eye captures abstract patterns and textures found within etherial sceneries, often taken from aerial heights, these mysterious and otherworldly compositions challenge our senses beyond the familiar.Follow her on Instagram here.

Take good care dear followers! Yours, Melanie Kettner

“Design amplifies and accentuates our lives by giving everyday habits a special context, spirit and warmth, which makes the ordinary extraordinary.”
Ilse Crawford, A Frame For Life